Media consists of people telling young teens that self-discipline is the key to success and having a stable life. But at what cost does discipline usually come with?
It can be argued that discipline does have its tactics of creating a sense of balance and mindfulness in children; this is why schools accentuate disciplining their students because it can lead to them being more focused. However, if a teacher pressurizes their students into only focusing and demands them to be quiet and not interrupt the class, it can lead to the student having difficulties expressing themselves. They would not be comfortable in class and may develop a fear of being open about their thoughts, expressions, or opinions. In the same way, at home, children should not be disciplined to the point where they are terrified of relaxing or being expressive in their own homes. For example, a calm way to discipline a kid would be to request them to clean their own mess but demanding them to do all the chores in the house just because the kid seems to be free at that time is a toxic way of disciplining the child.
This is to just talk about school and home settings but what if an individual pushes themselves too hard in regards to self-discipline?
Media makes it look so easy to simply be focused in life and discipline is put under zero negative connotations. This is why people get attracted to and obsessed with the idea of self-discipline. They will have full productive days for weeks to no end and suddenly get to this point of burnout that is so dreadful, it takes several weeks to recover. Risk assessments of burnout are innumerable- ranging from just fatigue to actual feelings of dread and sadness. A person could’ve loved playing the piano and would’ve practiced consistently even if they weren’t feeling the rhythm, in the name of discipline. And at one point, they would feel an immense amount of dread as they play the piano. Discipline can come with heavy apprehension. Discipline is a fine line to walk on because if one forces it too much, it is inevitable that one could lose passion. Discipline needs to be practiced in a soft way by being kind and considerate to oneself. If not, it will drain out all the energy on an individual just to lead to an unavoidable loss of passion, fondness, and enthusiasm. Discipline is mental abuse when forced, but when it is done plainly to avoid distractions and engage in an activity for a while- it is perfectly healthy.
